Meter-hanger.



P. MUELLER & A. G. SCHUERMANN. METER HANGER. APPLICATION FILED IULY22,1910.

1,006,396. Patented Oct. 17,1911.

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P. MUELLER & A. O. SGHUERMANN. METER HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP MUELLER AND ANTON C. SGHUE-RMANN, 0F DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS T0 H. MUELLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA- TION OF ILLINOIS.

METER-HANGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PHILIP MUELLER and ANTON C. SCHUERMANN, citizens of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements 1n Meter-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in means for supporting meters in position when connected to the service and street pipes, and has more particular relation to devices for this purpose which serve in the nature of a hanger.

So far as we are aware, it is the general practice in providing supports for a meter to make such support in the form of a shelf secured to the wall, and upon which the meter is adapted to rest. vices are of practical utility, they necessitate the provision of means ,for securing the shelf to the wall with sufficient strength to resist the weight of the meter, there being always present the liability of loosening of such connection with the wall, and thereby placing the support of the meter entirely upon the connections between the plpes and the meter secured thereto. Another difficulty in connection with supports of this character, lies in the fact that while the shelves are formed to permit of adjustment within a limited scope, there remains the requirement that a permanent position of the shelf must be had when being secured to the wall, and it is not always possible that the position of this permanent attachment is such as to permit of a ready placing of the shelf connection in position on the wall. In order to obviate these difliculties, and at the same time provide a suflicient support for the meter, we provide a support in the form of a stirrup which receives the meter, and connect the ends of the stirrup to suitable projecting portions carried by the house supply or service pipe, as most convenient, therebyplacing the entire weight of the, meter on that part of the meter connections in such manner as to practically make the meter self supporting.

The principal object of our invention is, therefore, to provide a meter support in the form of a hanger which depends from a part of the meter connections, the hanger being adjustable in order to accurately position WVhile such dethe meter with respect to the connections, and in such a manner as to take away the meter weight from such connections.

A further object of the invention is to provide a positioning device by means of which the meter may be suspended in position away from the wall and positively held against a movement to carry the meter into contact with the wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hanger for this purpose formed preferably, of wire bent into shape.

' Other and further objects of the invention are to provide a hanger structure which is neat and attractive in appearance, durable in construction, easily applied or dismounted, and which can be manufactured at a low cost.

To these and other ends, the nature of which will be readily understood as the invention is hereinafter disclosed, said invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, in each of the views, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a meter connected to the street or service pipe, and shown as supported by means of a hanger carried by a connecting member provided with outwardly extending wings. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the connector used in Figs. 1 to 3, and showing one of the wings in section. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views showing the wings attached to an elbow, this form of means being applicable for use where the connection between the meter and the service or street pipe is by an ordinary pipe instead of the usual lead pipe connection. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the manner in which the stirrup is arranged to provide the projecting tongue, where the vertically extending portion of the stirrup is located on the opposite side of the meter pipe from the projecting portion. Fig. 8 is an elevation, partly in section of a stirrup formed to permit adjustment in width to accommodate for variation in size of meters. Fig. 9 is a similar view of a slightly modified form.

Figs. 10 and 11 are cross-sectional views taken through the connector of the stirrup to show various ways in which the wires may be mounted.

10 designates a meter having the usual inlet and outlet pipes screw-threaded at their upper ends for connection with the service and street pipes in the usual manner of installation of meters, the connection being indicated at 11, and it may be either in theform of a lead pipe, as indicated in Figs.

1 tot, or the ordinary tube as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, the connection having one end provided with a connector 12 for attachment to the meter pipe, and having at its other end a connector 13 adapted to have a screw-threaded connection with the street or service pipe, as the case may be, it being understood, of course, that the particular form of hanger support required, is used in connection with either the street or service pipe, but not both, the particular pipe best positioned for the purpose being selected.

The hanger is preferably formed of stout wire, and, as s'hownin Figs. 1 to 3, is in the form of a stirrup which extends around from one side across the bottom and up the other side of the meter, this portion of the hanger being designated as 14, the free ends of the stirrup being bent inwardly as at 15, I

and adapted to extend through openings 16 in wings 17 secured to the connection 13, said wingsbeing inclined to provide an axis corresponding to the direction of inclination of the free ends 15 of the hanger, these wings projecting from opposite sides of the connection, as indicated in the several views.

The free, ends 15 are screw-threaded and adapted to pass freely through the opening 16, being secured in adjusted position by suitable means, such as wing-nuts 18 adapted to bear. against the upper side of the wings. As indicated-in Figs. 2 and 3, the vertical portions of the stirrups are arranged so as to extend on opposite sides of the meter pipes, thereby causing the bottom of the stirrup to extend diagonally against thebottom of the meter, with the result that a tendency of the meter to tilt on the relatively small piece formed by the strand of wire, is eliminated. To further prevent this tilting efiect,the wings 17 are preferably arranged to extend in directions corresponding with a line. extending from the front to the rear of the meter, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2.- If desired, the hanger may be formed to provide projections which extend beyond the plane of the meter, and which, when brought into contact with the wall, serve to position the meter away from and out ofcontact with the wall. These projections are formed by twisting the wire at a suitable point in the height of the vertical portion of the stirrup, and providing an elongated loop at the end of the twisted portion, the loop being indicated at 19, and the twisted portion at 20 in the drawings. To provide the projecting portion in the vertical length of the stirrup, located in front of the meter pipe, (shown in full lines in Fig. 2) we provide a twisted portion of a length sufficient to be bent around the meter pipe in the manner indicated in Fig. 7, the amount of twisting required for this side being greater than that required for the opposite side, due to the fact that there is no requirement of passing by the meter pipe in the latter case. The twisting and length of the loops are such that the rear end of the loops will extend to a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the rear face of the meter, thereby providing a support on each side of the meter against twisting movements and also retain the stirrup against movement relative to the meter.

As shown in Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, the stirrup may be divided into two parts, indicated as 1 1 and 14", adapted to be adjustably connected together by a connector 25 into or through which the ends of the two wires 14 and 14 may be passed and secured by one or more set screws 26, dependent upon the character of the connection. The arrangement of the wires in the connector is immaterial, it being readily understood that they may lie side by side, either in horizontal or vertical plane, or they may be positioned spaced apart, as indicated in Fig. 11. And, as indicated in Figs. 8 and 9, the wires may be seated so as to place the connector 25 on a plane above the normal plane of the curves (causing the meter to rest on the connector) or the ends of the wires may be ofl-set to place the upper face of the connector 25 on or below the top plane of the main portion of the wires, causing the meter to rest on the wires and connector or solely on the wires. Furthermore, if desired, the portions of the stirrup members adapted to be positioned in the connector 25 may be flattened, or the stirrup members may be formed flat or band-like, the upper ends being suitably formed to be removably secured tothe wings 17.

From the above it will be readily understood that the meter is suspended centrally from the connections, thereby placing it "in balance, while the use of the rearwardly projecting portions or spacing elements 19 serve to position the meter out of contact with and spaced from the wall, so that dampness of the latter will not affect the meter, thereby preventing a rusting out of the meter.

While we have herein shown and described one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction shown therein, reserving the right to make any and all such modifications thereof as may fall within the scope of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is:

1. The combination with meter connections, of a support carried thereby and positioned at a point above and spaced from the top plane of the meter, and a hanger adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of the meter, and having its free ends each adjustably and independently secured to the support.

2. The combination with meter connec tions, of a support carried by and forming a part of the connections and positioned at a point above and spaced from the top plane of the meter, and a hanger adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of the meter, and having its free ends each adjustably and independently secured to the support.

3. Means for supporting a meter, comprising a coupling member, and a hanger suspended from said member, said hanger extending on the opposite sides and bottom of the meter and having means for independently adjusting the side portions of the hanger in the direction of length of such portions.

4. The combination with meter connections, of a meter-supporting structure carried thereby, said structure extending on opposite sides and the bottom of the meter to form a stirrup-like device within which the meter seats, the side portions of the device each being independently adjustable in the direction of length of such portions.

5. The combination with meter connections, of oppositely extending projections carried by the connections at a point above and spaced from the top plane of the meter, and a hanger adapted to embrace the sides and bottom walls of a meter and having its free ends removably secured to said projections, whereby the meter will be held suspended centrally from the connections.

6. The combination with meter connections, of wings carried by and formed integral with one of the connections, said wings having their upper faces inclined relatively to each other, and a hanger adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of a meter and having its free ends bent inwardly and supported by said wings.

7. The combination with meter connections, of wings carried by and formed integral with one of the connections, said wings having their upper faces inclined relatively to each other, a hanger adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of a meter and having its free ends inclined inwardly and screw-threaded, the screwthreaded free ends being adapted to be passed through openings formed in the wings, and nuts mounted on the screwthreaded ends of the hanger above the wings.

8. The combination with meter connections, of a hanger supported wholly by the connections, said hangers being formed of wire and adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of a meter, the vertical portions of the hanger being positioned to provide a diagonal direction of length to the bottom portion of the hanger.

9. The combination with meter connections, of a hanger formed of wire and adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of a meter, the vertical portions of the hanger being arranged to provide a diagonal direction of length to the bottom portion of the hanger, and extending on diagonally opposite sides of the meter pipes, and wings carried by the connections for supporting the hanger, said wings extending diametrically in a direction corresponding to a line extending from the front to the rear of the mete-r.

10. The combination with meter connections, of a hanger supported wholly by the connections for supporting the weight of a meter, said hanger extending on opposite sides of the meter and having rearwardly projecting portions adapted to position the meter out of contact with a wall.

11. The combination with meter connections, of a hanger formed of wire and supported wholly by one of the connections, said hanger being adapted to embrace the side and bottom walls of a meter and being twisted intermediate the ends of the side portions to provide rearwardly projecting portions adapted to space the meter from a contiguous wall.

12. The combination with meter connections, of a hanger for supporting the weight of a 'meter, said hanger being supported wholly by the connections at a point above and spaced from the top plane of the meter, whereby the meter will be held suspended centrally from the connections, said hanger being adjustable to provide for variations in meter widths.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PHILIP MUELLER. ANTON U. SCHUERMANN.

Witnesses:

W. R. GUs'rIN, W. R. BIDDLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

